Process of treating silk



1 called throwing operation.

To all whom it v a concern 1 Patented Feb. 27, 1923.

UNITED s AS} GEORGE W. COLE, JR., 0F PATERSON, NEW JERSEY.

.rRocEss or TREATING SILK.

No Drawing. i Application filed November Be it known that I, Gnononll'. COLE, J12, a citizen of the United States, a resident of Paterson, in the county of Passaic andbtate of New Jersey, haveinventeda certain new and useful Processv of Treating Silk, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a process of treating silk, and more partieularlyto a process of treating silk before it is,woven and dyed. The invention also includes the product of such a process. I

The invention has as an object the weighting of silk before the socalled throwing or twisting operation in order. to incorporate the maximum quantity of the weighting material such as a tin salt. has as an object the production of a well" weighted silk that can be dyed in the piece after the weaving operation. Another objectof the invention'is to weight silk with any suitable agent in such a manneras to.

incorporate the maximum amount of the weighting agent without interfering with the other operations of the process. A still further object: of the invention is to provide special means to facilitate the carrying out of the weighting and throwingoperations. A still further object of the invention is to I arrange the other steps of the silk treat.- ing process so as to conveniently and effectively carry out the operations of weighting, throwing, weaving, and dyeing. Other objects of the invention willappear from the following description. Q

My invention has made it possible for the first time to produce an undyed piece of woven silk goods in which is incorporated the maximum amount ofweighting material, and this has been accomplished by impregnating the silk in the skein before the so- After the fab: ric has been completed by the weaving operation it need not be dyed at once but may be kept in stock until the condition of the market determines what particular colors should housed in dyeing the goods. My product may be distinguished from other similar goods on the market by its very much greater content of weighting material. In the preferred embodiment of the invention,

the following procedure is adopted on the processing of 160-lbs. silk The silk as received in the skein in a raw state and containing gum, is placed in a bath consisting of soft water, soap, sal soda,

The invention also 20, 1922. Serial No. 602,239.

' and ammonia in the following proporti0ns:- i 9 I 600 gallons of water 30 lbs. green olive 'oil soap 5 lbs. sal soda lgallonammonia Y &. at 28 C. The purpose of this bath is to re move all foreign matters other than the natural gum from the silk. ;;'1- l1e ;time.1of immersion will vary fron oneto one and one half hours. After'tlie silk is removed from the bath. it is subjected to two washes of soft water of the same. temperature as above and it is then subjected to another bath consisting of spring water: and muriaticacid (300 gallons of water 3. gallonsofmuriaticacid; F

This bath is'given-to' thejsilk' in order'to remove whatever soap it may still contain and it, furthermore, renders thefsilk receptive to the tin -salt with whichit is late) brought in contact. Atter removal from thefbatli the silk is dried in an extractorand is thong ready for the impregnating step. I The impregnation.,consistsiof a series "of operations beginning, with immersion in tin tetrachloride. and after onedseriiesfof operations has been. concluded the silk may again be subjected to repeated impregnations in order to briiig tlie-iveight up to the desired percent-age. Howeverfonly one series will be described, as follows: The silk is placed in a bath of tin tetrachloride, 28 Baum glass, and allowedlto remain there for one hour, after which it is-removed and extracted and washed with. cold water on washing machines. It isthen again extracted. It is next placedin a sodium phosphate bath, 600 gal. water, sodium phosphate 4- to 5 Baum glass for about one hour'and is then removed and washed twice with soft water, after which it is treated with spring water and muriatic acid. 600 gal. water and t3 gal. nniriatic acid.- After this washing, it is again extracted.

The above tin weightingoperation may, as aforesaid. be repeated from one to five times, according to the weight required, and after the conclusion of these treatments, the silk is washed with water. extracted, and then given-a sodium phosphate. bath in which it remains for one hour,

cute 4 to 5 Baumglass, in which the silk after which it is given three more soft water baths and then a bath of soda and ammonia- 600 gal. of water 4.0 lbs. sal soda 3 gal. ammonia for one-half hour. This operation is then followed by another bath consisting of soft water, green olive oil soap, and ammonia 600 gal. of water a 50 lbs. green olive oil soap 1 gal. ammonia and the silk is allowed to remain in it for one and one-half hours after which it is again washed with spring water and muriatic acid, extracted, and dried. I

After these weighting operations and conditioning processeshave been concluded, the silk is forwarded to the throwster to be thrown, this latter operation consisting in giving the silk the particular number of twists per inch desired in the final woven lycerine to -1I1 one hundred gallons whenever a particular product. This step is in itself known to the art. Just before being subjected to this step in the process, the silk is treated with a solution made up by incorporating the extent of five per cent (5%) of water and adding thereto neats-foot oil and soap to the extent of four per cent (4%) each for every hundred pounds of silk treated. The glycerine functions as a softening agent to facilitate the subsequent throwing operation by keeping the silk fibers united and smooth, as otherwise they might tend to become disarranged, break off, or extend out from the individual threads to present a ruffied appearance.

After the so-called throwing operation the silk may be woven into a cloth and then dyed the various colors desired by manufacturers from time to time.

This dyeing operation need not beperformed at once, as it may be carried out shade of color is desired b the public, and hence there will be no nee for accumulating stores of silk dyed oods having unmarketable colors. ing operation is not performed, therefore, before the final step, as herein described, as there would not be any advantage in doing so. It could, however, be carried out at an'earlier stage if so desired.

The treatment with the glycerine solution constitutes a highly advantageous step of the process since it greatly facilitates the subsequent throwing operation and enables the manufacturer to produce a beautifully woven fabric. The weighting of the silk before these operations is also of great advantage since it avoids disarrangement of the fibers in the skein and it is also possible to thereby incorporate more tin in each impregnation and in the final product, for

A dyethe immersion while in the skein renders it possible for the tin liquor to penetrate uniformly from all sides of the strands of silk. A heavier weight can, therefore, be produced, which is of considerable advantage and this can be produced before the throwing operation without in any way interfering with said throwing operation. It will therefore be apparent that by the combination of these steps in the manner described I have improved considerably upon prior processes for treating silk and have made it possible to improve the qualities of the final product and to accomplish these results claims.

It has been stated that an object of the invention is to weight the silk before the throwing operation, and the purpose of this is to avoid any snarling or shriveling up which would occur if the weighting operation were attempted after the throwing operation. It is common in the art, however, to give raw silk a few'turns before operating upon it in order to handle it better, this conditionof the silk being gtermed tram in the raw, and such a. procedure may of course be adopted in the case of my process also. Whether or not a preliminary twist of-a few turns is given will not change the subsequent order of steps which comprises the weighting operation while the silk is in the gum; and the subsequent throwing operation.

'1 claim 1. A process of treating silk comprising impregnating it with a tin solution, washing and drying it, treating it with a glycerine solution, throwing it, and weaving and dyeing it.

2. A process of treating silk comprisingimpregnating it with a metallic compoun to weight it, treating it with a softening agent, hrowing it, and dyeing it.

tion, treating it with a muriatic acid solution and washing it, treating it with a sodium silicate solution and washing it, drying it, soaking it in a glycerine solution, throwing it to provide a twist, and then weaving it.

5. A process of treating silk comprising impregnating it with a weighting material, treating it with a softening agent, throwing it, and weaving and dyeing the silk.

6. A process'of treating silk comprising treating it in an aqueous alkaline bath containing soap, washing it with water, treating it with hydrochloric acid and drying it, soaking it in a solution of tin tetrachloride, washing it, treating it with sodium phosphate solution and then washing it, treating it in a hydrochloric acid solution and then washing it. treating it with sodium phosphate solution and then washing it after the conclusion of the weighting operation, treating it with an alkaline solution, followed by treatment with sodium silicate and washing, again treating it with an alkaline solution and then with an ammoniacal solution of'a green olive oil soap, washing it with a muriatic acid solution, drying it, soaking it in a glycerine and neats-foot oil solution, throwing it to provide a twist, and weaving and dyeing the silk to form the finished product.

7. A process of treating silk comprising treating it in an aqueous bath to remove foreign materials, drying it, impregnating it in a tin solution and thereafter washing it, treating it with an alkaline solution and then drying it, soaking it in a glycerine solution to soften it, and then throwing and weaving the silk.

. 8. A process of treating silk comprising impregnating it with a weighting material to give the desired weight to the silk whilein the form of a skein before the weaving operation. throwing the silk to provide a twist of the desired number of turns per linear inch, and then weaving the silk.

9. A process of treating silk comprising treating it in an aqueous bath to remove foreign materials, drying the silk, im regnating it with a weighting material to give the desired weight, washing and drying the silk, and then throwing and weaving 1t.

10. A process of treating silk comprising impregnating it with a weighting material to give it the desired weight, treating it with a softening agent to prevent the silk from becoming rough during the throwing operation, and then throwing the silk to provide a twist.

11. A process of treating silk comprisingimpregnating itwith a metallic compound to weight it, treating it with a softening agent, throwing it, and dyeing it,these steps being performed in the order named.

12. A process of treating silk comprising impregnating it with a weighting material, treating it with a softening agent, throwing it, and weaving and dyeing the silk, these steps being performed in the order named.

13. A process of treating silk comprising impregnating it with a weighting material to give the desired weight to the silk while in the form of a skein before the weaving operation, throwing the silk to provide a twist of the desired number of turns per linear inch, weaving the silk, and then dye-- ing it.

14. A process of treating silk comprising treating it in an aqueous bath to remove foreign materials, drying the silk, impregnating it'with a weighting material to give the desired weight, washing and drying the silk, throwing and weaving it, and then dyeing it.

15. An undyed silk fabric comprising silk in the gum, and which contains over twentyfive per cent of weighting material.

16. An undyed silk fabric comprising silk in the gum which contains over fifty per cent of weighting material.

17. A process of treating silk comprising weighting it before degumming, weaving it, degumming and then dyeing it.

18. A process of treating silk comprising weighting it before degumming, throwing the silk, weaving it, degumming and then dyeing it.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing,

I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day 

